1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a copying machine having a separation mechanism, by which a toner image formed on an image retaining member is to be transferred onto a transfer paper, and the transfer paper carrying said toner image is effectively separated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, in an image transfer type of the electrophotographic copying machines, the electrostatic recording machines, or the like, a toner image formed on an image retaining member is transferred onto a transfer paper, and the transfer paper carrying said toner image is separated from said image retaining member and fixed, and thus ejected from the machine.
Wherein, for separating a transfer paper, the following methods have been adopted; the method that separation of a transfer paper is made through the use of a separation electrode so as to electrostatically neutralize the electric charge having been held on the image transferred paper; the method that, by using of a movable separation claw, a transfer paper is run against the front end of said claw with an image retaining member transiently, and thus separated; the method that a transfer paper is separated by making use of said separation electrode and separation claw jointly; or the like. However, the separating methods having so far been adopted cannot always achieve any complete separation, and in the case that a separation failure was to occur with those methods, said failure is detected by a sensor and the mechanical operations are stopped in action by the signal given from said sensor, and a copying is interrupted in operation once, and said jammed paper is removed in the meanwhile, and then the copying operations are resumed work.
In this connection, whenever a separation failure occurs, the troublesome labor for removing said jammed paper is required, and therefore, not only the time is wasted, but also it is attended by many evils such as the damage on a photosensitive substance on the image retaining member, a separation claw and a separation electrode, at the time when removing said jammed paper.
The present inventors have studied to eliminate completely the abovementioned labor for removing a jammed paper. Supposing the aforesaid separation method is correctly adopted, then no separation failure will occur at all. However, it is at variance with the reality. Though there are some feasible separation methods, but the reason why such methods cannot be adopted as a separation method to be applicable to a copying machine, is that said methods cannot satisfy the conditions that a transfer paper can completely be separated from the image retaining member, and that a toner image on a transfer paper (if touched said toner image remaining unfixed, the toners will move and disturb the image) cannot be damaged when the separation is made.